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The Funding of Long-Term Care in Canada: What Do We Know, What Should We Know?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2018

Michel Grignon  and
Byron G. Spencer
Michel Grignon*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics and Department of Health, Aging & Society, McMaster University
Byron G. Spencer
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, McMaster University
*
†La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à : / Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to: Michel Grignon, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Economics and Department of Health, Aging & Society McMaster University 280 Main Street West Hamilton, ON, L8S 4M4 <grignon@mcmaster.ca>
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Abstract

Long-term care is a growing component of health care spending but how much is spent or who bears the cost is uncertain, and the measures vary depending on the source used. We drew on regularly published series and ad hoc publications to compile preferred estimates of the share of long-term care spending in total health care spending, the private share of long-term care spending, and the share of residential care within long-term care. For each series, we compared estimates obtainable from published sources (CIHI [Canadian Institute for Health Information] and OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development]) with our preferred estimates. We conclude that using published series without adjustment would lead to spurious conclusions on the level and evolution of spending on long-term care in Canada as well as on the distribution of costs between private and public funders and between residential and home care.

Résumé

Les dépenses liées à la perte d’autonomie en soins de longue durée représentent une part croissante des dépenses en soins de santé, mais il n’est pas facile d’en appréhender le montant total ou bien la source de financement en se fondant sur les données publiées. Nous utilisons des séries de statistiques publiées régulièrement ainsi que des publications occasionnelles pour colliger des estimations validées de la part occupée par les dépenses en soins de longue durée relativement aux dépenses totales en soins de santé, ainsi que celle des dépenses en soins de longue durée financés de manière privée comparativement à celle des soins fournis en institution. Pour chaque série de statistiques, nous comparons les estimations publiées (par l’ICIS ou l’OCDE) à notre estimation validée. Notre conclusion est que l’utilisation de statistiques publiées régulièrement sans ajustement pourrait conduire à des interprétations erronées sur le niveau et l’évolution des dépenses en soins de longue durée au Canada, ainsi que sur la distribution de ces dépenses entre les secteurs privé et public ou bien entre les soins institutionnels et les soins à domicile.

Keywords

aginglong-term carespendingincidencevieillissementsoins de longue duréedépensesincidence
Type
Article
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , June 2018 , pp. 110 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2018 

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Footnotes

*

We are grateful to Simon Webb for excellent assistance in the preparation of the report on which this article is based, and which was presented at a meeting organized by Health Canada. We are grateful also to Health Canada for the financial support of the work reported here.

References

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